Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

More from the day Gonzo was unveiled

An impactful move by the Red Sox is one that makes the Yankees take notice. Yes, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is fully aware of the type of damage Gonzalez might do against his team for the next several years.

“It makes them a great team,” Cashman said. “He’s a heck of a hitter. That’s a huge addition for Boston. We know what our areas of weaknesses are that we need to tackle, and that’s what we need to continue to focus on. But they just obviously improved themselves in a significant way. He’s one of the premier players at that position in the game.”

Gonzalez showed good sensibility in his greeting with the Boston press, immediately talking about his goal of helping the Red Sox topple the Yankees.

“It was very emotional and very up and down,” said Gonzalez. “But I’m very excited that everything was able to be worked out and I’m very excited to be here in Boston. And I’m ready to beat the Yanks.”

He’s also like to help the Red Sox raise some more of those banners — like the ones from 2004 and 2007.

“I’ve had five incredible years in San Diego. My dream as a kid was to play in the Major Leagues and be a Padre and my second dream was to be a Red Sox. So I’m very excited, God has been very, very good to me and I’m just very excited to start the season and look forward to a lot of world championships,” Gonzalez said.

“It was one of the things where you grow up and you always root for a National League team and an American League team and the Red Sox have always been the American League team that I rooted for and I think with Ted Williams and all those things and him being from San Diego and seeing what he did here, everyone knows he’s one of the greatest of all time, there’s always been a lot of connections between me and my heart and the Red Sox.”

Watching Gonzalez hit at Fenway figures to become a must-watch experience, much like Manny Ramirez during his prime years.

“He’s one of the very best hitters in the game, a left-handed hitter with atremendous ability to control the strike zone, hit, hit for power, has power to all fields. His natural stroke is probably to the opposite field which is a great fit for our ballpark,” said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. “He hits the ball the other way with ease, so wethink he’s going to wear the wall out. Just going from PETCO to Fenway Park should do wonders for his overall production, not that it needs any help. He likes the ball away from him a little bit. He’s a thinking man’s hitter who controls the at-bats and knows what he wants to do up there and goes up to the plate with a plan every time.

“Defensively, he’s a plus fielder with great hands, good feet around the bag, and he can really throw. He’s a playmaker on defense and has outstanding makeup. He’s a high-character person who leads by example and wants to win. That and he’s working on his speed, he said, this winter, so he can get a lot of doubles to left.”

By the way, Gonzalez did not have a number on his jersey during his unveiling, but Mike Cameron will give him 23 once some friendly high-stakes negotiations are complete.

As for Red Sox manager Terry Francona, his early Christmas present is getting to pencil Gonzalez into his lineup every day.

“This is one of the best hitters in baseball,” Francona said in an interview with WEEI radio in Boston. “This is a big move for us. We’re getting a middle of the order bat, a guy that’s won a couple of Gold Gloves. He’s still young. This is exciting. We gave up some good players to get him, but that’s the only way you can get a guy of his caliber.”

Francona could sense how much Epstein wanted to make the deal happen.

“This was an important one,” Francona said. “I could tell that Theo was really digging his heels in on this one. And I’m glad he did because when he feels that strongly it’s got a chance to really be good for us.”

10 Comments

Okay, so we are all excited about Gonzo, seriously, we are. So in the true form of a Sox fan, I have one question…..What’s next? Where do they go from here? As much as I love this move it’s not a lock for a ring. With Werth gone and the improbability of the Sox adding another left handed bat (Crawford), who is it going to be? Do we settle with the outfield the way it is and expect Kalish to come up at some point? Ells, Cameron and JD doesn’t exactly excite me although JD is in a contract year. Will it be bullpen (which needs help), if so then who?

SoxDMC, you’re right, we are not a lock for anything, and I would also like another move or two to be made, whether or not we get Crawford. I like the Gonzo move also, and I’d like to see Kalish come up– I think he’ll be good. But we need some serious BP help. I hope we get it. Outside of Rafael Soriano, though, no one is really an attractive option (that I can think of, anyway). I hope someone does. GO SOX!

Last year, a rash of unexplainable injuries eventually brought our offense down — but the Sox hung in their nearly the whole season in spite of that. However, it almost seems to me it was the pitching, and especially the bullpen, that eventually did us in. Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K, all bad years, and the bullpen stunk all year long (except for Bard). Only Lester, Buckholtz, and Bard had relatively good years, maybe Acthison. Nobody else showed up for most of the year. How are you going to fix that without Yankee pockets?

Greg I’m with you BP and a right handed bat would make them a force… Id prefer Crawford though (who woudnt?) As for Ian needing a proofreader the rest of you need a life… I think the blog and Ian’s insider updates are fine… Alot of us make an occasional grammatical error. Ian keep up the good work

LMAO SoxDMC we all need to chill but… Theo’s lackluster attitude and not knowing what goes on behind the scenes has all of us crazy… Figure by spring training we’ll all be on ativan & blood pressure meds…

Proofreader?
Hey the man is doing this for free as far as I know. I’m just glad he does it at all.
Let’s give Theo a break as well. He already has stated he now wants BP and outfield help. I’ve been Theo’s biggest detractor but I’ve got to hand it to him that he’s done well with the Padres but I still worry about what that contract extension means. If Gonsalez gets hurt year three, or gets unhappy, we’re doing another Drew contract but in fairness Drew never had any talent just like Lugo, Gagne, Drew, Lugo, Lugo and ya Lugo and did I forget to mention Lugo. Then there was Lugo and ScatterThrow and Lugo.

Dave: You are still here? I thought you are on you way to San Diego as the 4th PTBNL. lol
You can?t foresee injury which happens. Theo may put an escape clause (ala JD) in the contract to minimize the loss. Tex signed a big contract with the Yankees. Who would have known that Tex had a broken toe at the end of the season and playing with pain in the playoffs. The Sox are in business and a LHP and a RHP and a RH OF away from the WS.

I want to stand up for J D Drew.
I know that this sounds strange coming from me.
YES, I know that I have been on the NO side for JD ever since the Sox refused to sign my Dirt Dawg,Trot Nixon, a few years back. And I started calling him Nancy and Judy almost right away and every time he got hurt or as I was fond of saying snagged a nail or got a run in his pantyhose,I was right on his case. I have called him a slacker and on and on. But I have to come out and say that I have been unfairly judgmental of him. Yes, he’s taken his days off, and yes he’s missed some balls in right field, but he has come through in the clutch too. He has helped when Papi was in a slump or when we has guys on the DL. His play in RF has been good, I was just very partial to a couple of our RF’ers from the past that I thought patrolled RF better. But I have to come out and say he’s done more than I thought he would or could we Theo signed him. I am not saying that his pay was in line with his production, but he’s done more than I expected and I guess its time for me to give him a break.

But I can still say that his strike out swing is THE prettiest in all of MLB..lol (It really is a beautiful swing!!)

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